Gorilla Project

Funded by the Morris Animal Foundation, this project was designed as a management tool for the Association of Zoos and Aquarium's (AZA) Gorilla Species Survival Plan (SSP) in order to skew the current sex ration and produce more female offspring. Oocytes (unfertilized eggs) are collected from SSP-managed females for embryo production by the intracytoplasmic injection of sex-selected sperm (X-chromosome bearing) to produce female offspring. Oocyte collections and embryo transfers have been carried out at multiple institutions in the United States.